Advancing Road Safety in Urban Area: The Impact of Roundabouts on Intersection Design

Aziz, Fathan; Mahmudah, Noor; Augeri, Maria Grazia; Comi, Antonio · 2025 · Crossref

DOI: 10.22146/jcef.15904

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Summary

This paper addresses the critical challenge of road safety at urban intersections, which are frequent hotspots for traffic accidents, particularly during peak hours. The authors investigate the efficacy of roundabouts as an alternative to conventional signalized or four-way intersections. Motivated by the need to minimize risks for diverse road users, including vehicles and pedestrians, the study aims to evaluate the safety performance of roundabouts, specifically their impact on crash reduction and traffic efficiency, while also identifying implementation challenges. The research employs a systematic literature review methodology. Data were collected from Scopus and Google Scholar using specific keywords related to roundabouts, intersections, and safety. The inclusion criteria restricted the analysis to peer-reviewed articles and institutional reports published in English between 2000 and 2023. From an initial pool of 119 articles, 53 were selected for final analysis after screening titles, abstracts, and full texts. The review synthesizes empirical studies to assess operational efficiency, safety benefits, design features, and public perception. The findings indicate that roundabouts significantly improve road safety and traffic flow. Converting conventional intersections to roundabouts reduces fatal crashes by up to 65% and injury crashes by 40%, with some studies reporting even higher reductions in overall collision frequency. These improvements are attributed to design features that minimize conflict points (reducing them from 32 in conventional intersections to 8 in single-lane roundabouts) and enforce lower vehicle speeds (typically 25–40 km/h). The paper distinguishes between mini, single-lane, and multi-lane roundabouts, noting that while single-lane designs are widely favored for simplicity and safety, turbo and spiral roundabouts offer enhanced capacity and safety for high-traffic volumes by reducing lane-changing conflicts. However, the study also identifies challenges, including the need for drivers to adapt to new traffic patterns, varying public perception, and the necessity of customizing geometric designs to local conditions to maximize benefits. The significance of this work lies in its comprehensive validation of roundabouts as a strategic intervention for urban traffic management. The results underscore that roundabouts provide a dual benefit of enhancing safety and improving operational efficiency, such as reducing delays and fuel consumption. The authors conclude that while roundabouts are a superior alternative to traditional intersections, successful implementation requires careful consideration of specific geometric conditions and public acceptance. The study highlights gaps in existing research, particularly regarding safety performance in Asian countries, and calls for further investigation into optimizing roundabout designs for diverse urban environments.

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• intersection design